EU energy efficiency directive published

The EU energy efficiency directive, which was agreed in June, will come into force on 5 December 2012. Member states will have until June 2014 to transpose it into national law. Each year they will have to report on progress towards meeting their efficiency targets. National action plans must be issued every three years from April 2014.

The EU has agreed a 20-per-cent energy efficiency goal for the end of this decade. To achieve this no more than 1,474 million tonnes of oil equivalent (Mtoe) of primary energy or 1,078 Mtoe of final energy should be consumed in the EU by 2020. This directive is expected to cut energy use by at least 15 per cent below business-as-usual by then. Another two per cent could be delivered by tougher standards for cars and vans, and the remaining three per cent through new ecodesign measures.